Ending Maker Chapter 92
Ending Maker Chapter 92
Chapter 31 — The Holy Land #3
The Black Knight, Bilvain.
Even among the mid-ranking Demonic Humans of the Devil's Eye, he was counted among the strongest. He raised his head and looked out over the basin.
"That place is the holy land."
He came from a fallen knightly house of the Argon Empire, so he did not know much about the Wild Lands.
But even he could not help sensing something extraordinary about the holy land before him.
'According to the information, it is guarded by one Wild God and four lowest-rank angels.'
In truth, the western part of the Wild Lands had already fallen into the hands of the Angry Rhino Tribe—into the hands of the Devil's Eye.
Thanks to that, the Devil's Eye had been able to obtain all sorts of information about the Wild Lands, including intelligence on the Wild Gods of the east, the Dragon Veins, and the location of the holy land.
'The Wild God in the form of a dragon, Blue Beard.'
He was a dragon, but still a young one, so he was likely not very strong. Even so, he was both a dragon and a Wild God.
It was by no means an easy opponent.
'Moreover, the objective is to capture it alive.'
To corrupt the Dragon Vein, cloud the Wild God's mind, and then use the power of Infernal Lord Belial to corrupt Blue Beard—that was the mission Bilvain had been given.
'Lure the creature out, then activate the ritual. Once the Wild God is bound and the guardians of the tomb are defeated, the holy land will be left undefended.'
After reviewing the rough plan in his head, Bilvain stopped about a hundred meters from the holy land's entrance and had his subordinates spread out into formation.
'I'll make it so you have no choice but to come out.'
The Dragon Veins spread across the entire Wild Lands like a net, just like the blood vessels of a human body.
The holy land was where those Dragon Veins converged and circulated—the equivalent of a heart in the human body.
To properly corrupt the Dragon Veins, one would have to seize that heart—the Dragon Vein Spring—but in any case, the smaller Dragon Veins were still Dragon Veins.
"Begin."
"We shall obey."
When Bilvain gave the order in a low voice, his subordinates—clad in black armor like their master—began driving spears imbued with the curse of Infernal Lord Belial into the ground.
"May the power of Belial dwell in this land......."
As Bilvain chanted between the rows of curse-spears, the curse activated and the surrounding snow began to melt.
At the same time that violet energy surged up along the spear shafts, a vile green curse seeped into the earth.
Bilvain raised his head and looked at the holy land's entrance.
What he had hoped for was coming to pass.
* * *
Ten minutes before Bilvain drove the curse-spears into the ground.
Yuder and Cordelia turned to each other and exchanged rapid words.
"Bilvain isn't just a brute-force type."
"He's got a brain, right? And he's the cautious type."
"Right. And remember what Rough Avalanche said?"
"The means to suppress the Wild Gods?"
"Yeah, that. Rough Avalanche said his movements were sealed by the wicked artifacts and curses they had prepared. There's a good chance they brought something similar this time."
"Seal Blue Beard and take out the guardians of the tomb?"
"Exactly. So we have to crush Bilvain's plan at its root."
"How? With a fucking boom?"
"No, I mean—well, if we blew up the holy land, it's true they couldn't occupy it."
"It was a joke, a joke. What do you take me for, some kind of bombing maniac? I'm not like that."
"......Let's just say that's true for now."
"Say that's true?"
"Anyway, what do you think Bilvain is currently missing?"
"Can't you just tell me instead of asking? Thinking is annoying."
"......My lady, this humble one does not wish to give up on you just yet......."
"I know, I know. You want to say 'us,' right? What Bilvain is missing."
Because Yuder and Cordelia would not be in Bilvain's information.
Moreover, although it had not been intentional, Yuder and Cordelia had effectively annihilated the Demonic Humans and subordinates of the Devil's Eye both on Rough Avalanche's mountain and in Gentle Snow Breeze's fields.
There was a high chance that information about Yuder and Cordelia had not yet reached them, and even if it had, it would not be easy for them to imagine that Yuder and Cordelia would appear at the holy land.
"Oho... See? You can do it when you try. Let's keep it up from now on."
"Let's stop with the bit. Anyway, if we're breaking it at the root, it's Blue Beard, right?"
"Right. Bilvain's plan most likely starts with 'seal Blue Beard.' In other words, if we prevent Blue Beard from being sealed, we can wreck his plan from the very foundation."
"The means?"
"That."
Yuder spun around and pointed at the holy land—more precisely, at Blue Beard's temple—and Cordelia narrowed her brow.
"Uh...... we said we weren't going to blow it up."
"No, not the Dragon Vein. That place is both the temple of the Wild Gods and Solari's holy land."
At Yuder's words, Cordelia blinked a few times, then understood.
Yuder and Cordelia did not know much about the Wild Gods, but that was not the case when it came to Solari.
"Can we use it?"
"We can."
"Will there be enough time?"
"That's why we need to hurry."
Cordelia nodded at Yuder's words, then ran toward the entrance and shouted.
"I'll buy us time!"
"Don't overdo it! Got it?!"
"You too!"
Cordelia shouted back without looking behind her and ran, and Yuder likewise launched himself toward the temple.
And about ten minutes later.
Blue Beard reacted to the curse-spears Bilvain had driven into the ground.
* * *
"Who dares defile the Dragon Veins!"
Blue Beard burst out of the temple with a roar of fury.
He looked ready to charge straight at Bilvain and his subordinates.
No—if he had been alone, he surely would have.
After all, he had guarded the holy land for nearly a hundred years, but this was the first time he had come under actual attack.
But Cordelia was there.
"Wait! Stop! You can't go!"
Cordelia had drawn out her power through Witchification and shouted with mana in her voice. Blue Beard stopped in his tracks, but his furious expression remained.
"Stop?! Can you not see what those wretches are doing?!"
They were driving curse-spears into the ground and spreading Belial's curse.
Cordelia had already seen something similar in Gentle Snow Breeze's land, so she understood roughly what was happening, but she still did not back down.
"I know! But it's a trap! An obvious trap at that!"
They could not truly corrupt the Dragon Vein without reaching the Dragon Vein Spring itself.
In other words, what they were doing could be called pointless busywork, and there was only one reason they would go out of their way to do such pointless busywork.
'It's bait!'
Bait to lure Blue Beard out.
"What about Yuder? He's inside drawing a magic circle, right? We have to wait until Yuder finishes his work!"
Yuder was ignorant about Dragon Veins but knowledgeable about Solari.
He would be drawing a magic circle to use the holy land's power, so they must not act rashly until Yuder completed the magic circle.
"But are they not corrupting the land?!"
"We can purify it later!"
"Well... that's true, but..."
Having lived alone at the holy land, Blue Beard was unused to verbal sparring. He faltered for a moment, but only for a moment.
"Agh! Do not block me! I am the guardian of the holy land! I will crush wretches like them in a single blow! Guardians of the tomb! Rise and face the enemy!"
"ROOOAR!"
The four guardians of the tomb stationed at the entrance spread their wings simultaneously in response to Blue Beard's command.
Cordelia stamped her feet with an urgent face, then made a decision.
"Paralyze!"
"What?!"
It was Cordelia's second specialty—paralysis magic.
Still, Blue Beard was a Wild God. His body stiffened for an instant under Cordelia's paralysis spell, but it did not last long.
The Solari necklace hanging around Blue Beard's neck emitted a blue light and dispelled Cordelia's magic.
'Solari's curse-removal necklace!'
It was a necklace that protected its wearer from a harmful spell once per day. Though limited to one activation a day, its protection was so powerful that it was an artifact worth taking whenever one appeared.
In any case, Blue Beard shook off Cordelia's spell with the necklace's power and shouted angrily.
"I thought you were a good child, but this will not do!"
"Nooo! Just listen to me! Okay?!"
"Move aside!"
Blue Beard shouted threateningly, as if he would truly attack if obstructed any further, then kicked off the ground and rose into the air.
He summoned wind and clouds to ride upon them, then flew toward Bilvain together with the guardians of the tomb.
"Oh, seriously!"
Cordelia swallowed her curses, glanced back once at the temple where Yuder was, then gritted her teeth and stood her ground.
She was worried about Blue Beard, but if they launched a diversionary attack, someone had to remain near the temple to guard against it.
'Please!'
Since it's come to this, show me the majesty of a Wild God!
Just as Cordelia wished for it,
"Hammer of Belial's curse! Strike the enemy! Net of curses! Capture the enemy!"
When Bilvain shouted loudly, five of his subordinates slit their own throats as human sacrifices.
Vivid red blood spread through the air, and at that instant, dark-red curse energy surged from the curse-spears and rushed toward Blue Beard.
It was a sealing curse specifically for Wild Gods, developed by the Devil's Eye over a long period of time for this operation.
"GRAAAH!"
His momentum was tremendous, but Blue Beard lacked combat experience, so he could not properly respond to the curses that came at him in succession.
Blue Beard, struck on the head by the curse hammer, crashed to the ground, and the net of curses bound not only his body but even his soul.
Having already used its protection for the day, Solari's necklace was as good as useless.
No—even if it had been usable, nothing would have changed.
After all, the Devil's Eye had prepared ten curses designed to activate one after another.
"Strengthen the curse! Seal the Wild God completely!"
When Bilvain shouted, five more of his subordinates stepped forward and slit their own throats.
They were brainwashed sacrifices prepared from the start for this very purpose.
"GRAAAH!"
Blue Beard, who had been desperately fighting against the curse, let out a pained scream. The moment the human sacrifices were added, the curse's power had nearly doubled.
"The Wild God is sealed. Strike the holy land as we are!"
When Bilvain drew his sword and shouted, his subordinates raised their banners and blew their war horns.
Though they belonged to the Devil's Eye, they operated more like a knightly order, and they began charging past Blue Beard toward the holy land.
"ROOOAR!"
The guardians of the tomb spread their wings and threw themselves at Bilvain's subordinates.
But they had also prepared countermeasures against the guardians of the tomb from the start.
They confronted each guardian in groups of ten, turning the battle into something like a pack of hunters surrounding its prey.
"Finish them one by one."
Bilvain, who had wrapped his sword in pitch-black sword aura, did not rush toward the holy land but instead advanced toward the guardians of the tomb.
It was a simple but reliable hunting method: ten subordinates restrained a guardian while Bilvain himself delivered the killing blow.
"Graaah..."
The first guardian of the tomb lost its life helplessly.
Cordelia, who had been watching that sight, gritted her teeth and thought.
The situation had already gone wrong. At this point, she had to step in and protect the guardians of the tomb herself.
Cooperating with them to stop Bilvain and his subordinates was the best option.
"Let's go."
Cordelia took a deep breath and kicked off the ground.
And at that moment, a thunderous roar erupted from behind her.
WHOOOOSH—!
It was the temple.
At the very top of Solari's temple was an open space meant to receive the sun, and from it surged a brilliant golden pillar of light.
Cordelia spun around, saw the pillar of light, and cheered as she realized what Yuder had done.
"Hail the sun!"
Cordelia raised both hands high and struck a pose of sun worship.
It wasn't an action with any particular meaning, but as if responding to her, the pillar of light reacted.
CRACK!
With a sound like shattering glass, the pillar of light split into hundreds, thousands of fragments.
As though time had stopped, every shattered fragment hung suspended in the air. Then an intense light flooded the entire world.
The land of Solari.
A spell formation that spread Solari's power across the surrounding area to temporarily create Solari's holy ground.
And its effect was truly tremendous.
"Ooooh!"
The guardians of the tomb grew larger. Golden light blazed in their eyes, and the holy power surrounding their bodies nearly doubled.
That wasn't all. The curse of Belial pressing down on Blue Beard weakened sharply, and the power of Bilvain and his subordinates fell as well.
"As expected of my Yuder!"
The spell formation had likely just exhausted the power of Solari stored in the holy ground, but what mattered now was defeating Bilvain and his subordinates.
Cordelia, smiling brightly, looked toward the temple entrance. It was so that when Yuder came running out, they could charge at Bilvain together.
But contrary to Cordelia's expectations, Yuder did not come running out.
No, he couldn't come running out.
Because something that neither Cordelia nor even Yuder had anticipated was happening.
'The spell formation, the spell formation won't stop!'
The center of the temple.
Yuder stood at the center of the large magic circle, frozen in place with a bewildered expression.
The spell formation had not gone wrong.
It had succeeded in manifesting the land of Solari by nearly exhausting the power of Solari stored in the temple.
But the spell formation did not stop.
Even though Solari's power had already been exhausted, it continued to gather power.
And Yuder realized.
What the magic circle was drawing in at this very moment was not the remaining power of Solari in the holy ground.
It was devouring the power of the Dragon Vein.
"Yuder!"
Cordelia appeared at the temple entrance. The instant she saw Yuder, her animal instincts told her something was wrong.
"Hey! You said we shouldn't blow it up!"
The Dragon Vein was writhing.
The Dragon Vein was writhing as though disaster might break out at any moment, just as it had when Cordelia deliberately sent one out of control.
And then the two of them realized once more.
Yuder saw through it because he stood directly atop the spell formation, while Cordelia once again sensed it through animal instinct.
It was different.
The flow of the Dragon Vein was not normal, but it was not running wild either. Nor was an explosion going to occur.
Something else.
Not an explosion, but something that made the power of the Dragon Vein surge upward.
It was not the spell formation.
The spell formation was merely the trigger. What was moving the Dragon Vein at this moment was someone else's will.
WHOOOOSH—!
"Yuder!"
A golden pillar of light shot up from the spell formation once again.
The instant Cordelia saw the light envelop Yuder, she charged toward the spell formation without a second thought and threw herself into the pillar of light to grab him.
And because of that, Cordelia was able to see it too.
She shared the vision that had originally been meant for Yuder alone.
Golden.
A world shining entirely in gold.
"Cordelia!"
Yuder hastily pulled Cordelia toward himself and then sent her behind his back as if hiding her.
Caught off guard as she ended up behind Yuder, Cordelia said nothing and instead raised her head toward the sky.
It was no longer the temple.
She could not tell whether it was a physical place or a mental one, but what filled her vision was not the sunset sky. It was the eye of a colossal being.
"The Golden Dragon."
At the moment Cordelia spoke without realizing it, Yuder also raised his head.
Cordelia's words were right.
A colossal golden dragon covered in golden scales was looking down at them with blue light shining in its eyes.
"I am the Golden Dragon."
The voice rolled down from the sky to the earth.
Before the voice of such a vast being, Yuder and Cordelia felt utterly insignificant.
"I am a being who has become one with the Dragon Vein—"
The Golden Dragon's head, high overhead, slowly began descending toward Yuder and Cordelia.
Cordelia flinched even as she drew up her mana, and Yuder moved half a step sideways to shield Cordelia a little more.
"I have experienced a series of Dragon Vein explosions of late. And those explosions were caused by you two."
The Golden Dragon's voice was perfectly flat, making its emotions impossible to read.
At the calm recitation of facts, Cordelia bit her lip and flinched once more, while Yuder thought and thought again about how to protect Cordelia from that colossal being.
'Should we run after all? No, it's impossible. If this space itself is the Golden Dragon's mental image, we can never escape. Then ask for forgiveness? Since it was to save the Wild Gods— if it would punish anyone, let it punish me—'
While Yuder's mind was racing, Cordelia stepped forward. With a resolute expression, she opened her firmly closed lips.
'I was wrong. Please forgive me. Please spare Yuder. It was all my doing.'
It was the moment she was about to pour out those words.
"Thank you."
"I was wro— Huh?"
As Cordelia blinked with a blank face, the Golden Dragon spoke again.
"Thank you. Thanks to you two, I was able to open my eyes."
What could that mean?
Had the Golden Dragon not appeared to punish them?
"I am a being who has become one with the Dragon Vein. Therefore, I share life and death with the Dragon Vein. The wicked ones completely seized the western part of the Wild Lands. Taking advantage of my slumber, they polluted all of the western Dragon Veins and drove me into an even deeper sleep."
Even in Hero Legend 2, the Golden Dragon had not awakened.
It was because the Devil's Eye had polluted not only the western Dragon Veins of the Wild Lands but all of the eastern Dragon Veins as well, casting the Golden Dragon into eternal sleep.
But Yuder and Cordelia— precisely, Cordelia— had changed the situation.
They had repeatedly prevented the pollution of the east.
With only the western Dragon Veins polluted, the Golden Dragon had still retained a chance of awakening. Yuder and Cordelia had then taken the decisive actions that restored its consciousness.
"The Dragon Vein rampage."
Yuder murmured the words to himself, and in that instant, he understood.
The Dragon Vein explosions had sent ripples through the entire Dragon Vein.
And those ripples had reached even the consciousness of the deeply slumbering Golden Dragon.
"At first, it was a small ripple. But thanks to the great shock that occurred recently, I was able to open my eyes."
A massive Dragon Vein explosion powerful enough to collapse all of Endymion.
Cordelia blinked again.
She had not understood it as completely as Yuder, but once again her instincts had let her grasp the gist of the situation.
So she spoke, albeit in a slightly timid tone.
"Uh...... so, did I do well?"
"You did well. Your actions deserve praise."
A bright smile spread across Cordelia's face.
As a bonus, her back and shoulders, which had been hunched from the scolding she'd received over the past few days, straightened out fully.
"Ahem, ahem."
Yuder deliberately avoided Cordelia's smug gaze as she raised her chin, then addressed the Golden Dragon.
"O Golden Dragon, have you then fully awakened?"
"No, regrettably not. I have opened my eyes, but it is merely that the shock restored my consciousness for a time. So, children, heed my request. Help me to fully open my eyes."
"We'll help you!"
When Cordelia shouted immediately, a small smile spread across the Golden Dragon's face.
"Thank you, child. Then listen well to my words and carry them out."
When the Golden Dragon closed and opened its eyes, a map of the Wild Lands appeared in the golden sky, followed by the courses of the Dragon Veins.
"Explode the polluted Dragon Vein springs of the west, shake off the wicked power, and send ripples through the entire Dragon Vein. Then I will be able to fully open my eyes."
"......Excuse me?"
Yuder couldn't help but ask again.
In other words, were they supposed to blow up all of the western Dragon Veins?
"Wow, so now we're legal?"
Yuder, who had deliberately ignored Cordelia's exclamation, tried to think rationally.
'Right, the land is polluted anyway.'
Holy ground or whatever, everything in the west was polluted. If so, blowing it all up was also a valid method.
"The wicked ones will try to protect the polluted Dragon Vein springs. But do not be daunted— destroy them all."
"Yes, we definitely will. I promise!"
"Yes, thank you."
Yuder felt dizzy amid the exchange between the Golden Dragon and Cordelia, which was heartwarming and somehow unsettling at the same time, but he quickly pulled himself together.
He voiced the words that were most necessary at this moment.
"O Golden Dragon, we will follow your command, so grant us the power to carry it out."
Whatever the circumstances, Yuder believed in extracting every possible benefit whenever he had the chance.
Cordelia, who had come to her senses at Yuder's words, also paid her respects and spoke.
"Please grant us your blessing."
"I shall. My blessing will be with you, and all the Wild Gods will aid you."
It was at that moment.
A burning heat flared on the backs of their left hands, and a golden dragon crest appeared there.
'Gasp! A dragon crest?!'
It was a crest that granted its bearer the power of a dragon.
It was one of the rarest among the many crests in Hero Legend 2, allowing its bearer to wield a dragon's power in a human body.
'Warriors get dragon fighting spirit, mages get dragon mana.'
In the case of mages especially, if they continued to develop the crest's power, they could even use dragon word magic, the magic of dragons.
"Whoa."
Cordelia's face lit up as though she were looking at a diamond ring. In truth, Yuder was not much different.
"Children, I entrust this to you. The Wild Lands— all those who live with the wild—"
With those final words of request, the Golden Dragon closed its eyes.
Yuder and Cordelia closed their eyes as if following suit, and when they opened them again, they were inside the temple.
"The magic circle stopped."
When Yuder spoke, Cordelia looked at the back of her hand again. Her fair skin was spotless, but when she focused her mind, the golden dragon crest appeared.
"It's real. And we even got a license."
"A license?"
"Yeah, a demolition license."
It was the permission of none other than the Golden Dragon, the king of the Wild Gods and the true master of the Wild Lands.
Now no one would be able to take issue with Cordelia's course of action.
"Ah, no. A license to kill is not okay."
"It is! And it's a demolition license. Demolition."
Cordelia even stuck out her tongue with a "bleh," then smiled and lightly clenched and unclenched her fist.
She had not measured it, but she instinctively knew that practically no time had passed while they met the Golden Dragon.
"Anyway, shall we go now?"
To beat down Bilvain and rescue Blue Beard.
"The licensed problem-solvers are on the move."
Cordelia, grinning with her fangs gleaming, stepped forward, and Yuder, instead of following right away, looked up at the sky for a moment.
'O Golden Dragon.'
'Perhaps you made a slight mistake.'
'No, maybe not just a slight one.'
Yuder smiled bitterly, lowered his gaze, and looked straight ahead.
He kicked off the ground to catch up to Cordelia, who was already passing through the temple entrance.